The Lost Kingdom
by dbdbbd
Summary: A few months after the events of Ocarina of Time. Link is thrown into a battle between two members of an old, lost kingdom. Link must once again pick up his shield and sword to help save Hyrule once more.
1. Chapter 1

I had originally started on this one a few years ago for another site, but haven't had time for it. This takes place a few months after the events of OOT, and Hyrule is threatened by another evil sorcerer, and yet again its up to Link to save the day. Old friends, new friends, and a lot of twists and turns along the way. Will Link come out of this one victorious, or will he meet his match when he becomes entangled in the struggle of a mysterious kingdom that vanished long ago.

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The Lost Kingdom

Chapter 1

_It is a very nice day_, Link thought, as he walked through the castle market. Indeed it was too: the sun was out, the only few clouds in the sky were big, white, and fluffy, the birds were singing cheerily, and it was warm out. It had only been a month now since Link had defeated Ganondorf and returned to a slightly altered version of home. Not much had changed but still there was a difference. As far as Link had found out so far, after the older Zelda had sent him back, was that he picked up right were he had gone to meet Zelda for the fist time, so yes the old Deku Tree was dead, but the Deku Sprout was there in his place, Ganondorf was no were to be found, almost as if he never existed, and it seemed like the no one knew about his entire adventure as the Hero of Time. Oh yes, he tried to tell the kokiri about it but they only laughed at him, Saria didn't but Link felt that was because she was trying to be a good friend that way, and it wasn't that Zelda believed it, it was the most impossible thing she had ever heard, but she felt something, what she didn't know, that told her something was true in his words, Malon thought he was strange but people also thought she was for having such a close connection to animals, so it didn't bother her much.

He was now just aimlessly wandering around trying to put things together to explain what had happened to him, but the lovely day kept diverting him off course. Link knew the market as well as the back as his hand, and pretty much knew all the villagers by face if not by name. So it caught him off guard when he seen a strange looking man wandering around the market as well. He was a little taller than the average person, with dark, untidy, long hair, his cloak was beaten, worn, and muddy, so were his tall boots, but the thing that Link didn't like about him the most was the man's eyes, they were stone grey. He really wasn't doing any thing but walk around, looking lost, but not stopping to ask directions. He finally headed down the path to the castle. That would explain it, a lot of outsiders came to the castle on business and other errands, but Link decided to follow him anyway.

Link stopped at the corner and watched as the strange man was denied admittance to the castle grounds. As the man turned around, rejected, Link quickly climbed up the vines to the flat area to hide. He watched as the man walked around the corner and down the path a bit and stopped. Link quickly ducked out of site as the man started to look over his shoulder. Link didn't see it but as the man walked away, he smiled.

After the man disappeared into the crowd in the market, Link decided to climb down. He now needed to get to Saria's for dinner, which is what they usually did. He would have to ask the guards tomorrow what the man wanted, but that was tomorrow, food is what mattered right now.

Saria was over at the stove making some mushroom soup for supper. She usually cooked and Link would come in from his latest "adventure" and tell her all about it, that's the way it went but it didn't matter to her she enjoyed the time with Link, and she was sure he enjoyed the time with her since Mido made life such a pain for him, making the other kokiri ostracize him at times. She didn't really believe Link went forward in time and came back, but that one day a great change did come over him. Although that was not on her mind right now, right now all that mattered was cooking supper for Link and herself. It was a routine for them every night: Saria would cook, Link would come in and tell about his latest "adventure" while they ate. It never got old because Link just couldn't keep his nose out of anything.

Then came the familiar sound of Link's boots as he was coming in the door and sat down. "I'm about done with supper here, Link," she said turning. "So what happened to you today?"

"Well, actually not a whole lot happened today," Saria about dropped the spoon in the soup, Link not nose around? "Although, there was this one guy that I had suspicions of him," ah there was the Link she knew, "I think it was his eyes, yeah, probably his eyes. Those stone grey eyes that would leave Ganondorf cold…" as he said this he was in a trance like state.

"Uh, Link are you ok?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," he said, coming out of the trance. "Its just this guy I seen in the castle market, looked like he just walk a real long distance."

"Let me guess: dirty, worn cloak?"

"Yeah."

"Tall boots the same way?"

"Yeah!"

"Dark, messy, long hair?"

"Yeah! How'd you know?"

"He came through a couple minuets ago."

"What!"

"He went into the Deku Sprout's grove. Mido tried to stop him but the guy just ignored him…" there was a scrape of a chair and Saria was only quick enough to see the tip of Link's hat disappear around the corner. "Maybe I should have waited to tell him after supper," she said to herself.

Link ran toward the grove, jumping the platforms in the little pond along the way, and came to a halt in front of Mido, who felt it was his sole duty to protect the Deku Sprout's grove. "What do you want, Link? There is already some weirdo in there, the Deku sprout can only handle so much weird at a time," Mido started, but that was all Link needed to hear. If that guy was in there he was going to find out why. Link shoved is way past Mido nearly knocking him down. "Hey! Watch it! Get back here, I'm not done griping at you yet!" Mido yelled at Link.

As he ran down the path many thoughts kept flashing thru Link's mind such as; _Who is this guy, Where did he come from, What does he want with the Deku Sprout, _and _I sure hope he isn't anything like Ganondorf_. He rounded the corner and saw the stranger sitting in front of the Deku Sprout, holding in his lap what looked like a sword. Link stood at the entrance of the grove staring at the man.

The stranger, seeming to sense Link, looked over his shoulder and smiled. "You're the little kid who followed me at the market this morning, aren't you?" speechless Link could only nod, that caused the man to friendly chuckle. "Don't worry I wont bite. Come, I see you have questions, I will answer them to the best of my capability." Seeing the man was kind, Link walked over and sat down next to him. Being this close Link could see the man was holding a katana in his lap, which seemed to have some kind of ancient runes engraved in the handle. "Fire away, I'm all ears," said the stranger, smiling.

Link looked at this stranger's ears and seen that they were in fact small and round. "Your not all ears, you hardly have ears at all."

That made the man laugh, "Well, maybe not compared to yours, but it's a figure of speech. Anyway, go ahead with your questions."

"Ok," Link inhaled deeply and said, "who are you, where do you come from, why did you want to see the Deku Sprout, why are you dressed so, why do you have that sword, what does it say on the handle, and why didn't the guard let you through at the castle gates?" Link asked very quickly and using only one breath.

The man at first looked shocked and then burst out laughing, confusing Link. Seeing his quizzical look the stranger tried to suppress his laughter and said, "Sorry, curious one aren't you? I can answer those all with a little story, but it may take a while. Do you have enough time?" Link nodded. "Good I can tell you right here…"

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Ooh what a way to end a chapter, eh? Who is this man, and what is his story? All is told in the next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

Link has caught up with the strange man from the market, and now they sit in the Deku Grove, as the man is about to tell his story...

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Chapter 2

_My name is Orpm_(sounds like Ore-pim). _I come from Vquitoz_(V-quit-oz) _which sadly doesn't exist anymore, and I'm sure anyone you ask will not have heard of it. It was the most beautiful kingdom, with lush gardens and productive fields everywhere; it was a true site to behold. Not only where we productive but we were also powerful, one of the most powerful in the land, but we were also peaceful people. If one in our kingdom turned to darkness we would try to show them the light again, but if we failed in this we exiled them. This was our biggest mistake._

_A man by the name of Sypcp_(Sip-kip) _turned to the dark ways, and we tried to lead him back to the light, but he would not stray form his dark path. Thinking that there was nothing we could do to help him, we exiled him, big mistake. In his exile we could not keep a watchful eye on him or restrain him any further from his dark ways, he studied the dark arts of sorcery, attacked the innocent, and became quite powerful._

_He came back to Vquitoz seeking vengeance. The king ordered every knight, warrior, and every man that could carry a weapon into battle. That is where I got this sword, inscribed on the handle in ancient Vquitoz is something to the effect of:' the royal family has inscribed this sword to you, may you use it well'. I was a knight of the most powerful kingdom in the world…I am now the only living survivor of that terrible day, other than Sypcp. I can remember it like it was yesterday._

_All the warriors rode to walls expecting to see the Sypcp we remembered with possibly a small undead army, what appeared was not the same Sypcp but what appeared to be a giant solid shadow. Our thousand man army charged at this apparition and, and it appeared to smile. With one swipe of his mighty hand he killed around one hundred sixty of our men and crippled close to three hundred. That's half of our men out of the game only one move in. The rest of us stayed back hoping to find a weakness in his defenses, we seen none. He, he laughed at us then, and then he charged, puling a giant sword out of nothing but thin air!_

_In panic I turned toward the castle and rode as fast as I could: I was going to protect the King at all costs. In the castle I found the king, explained what was happening, I then placed him in the most secure room in the castle, and placed myself in the most defensive position in front of the door, and waited. I could hear Sypcp blowing things up left and right outside, the explosions were getting closer. I heard the castle door being blown down, and I prepared myself for the fight of my life. Sypcp came down the hall in his normal form, or I guess what would be considered his normal form. Then he saw me._

"_Ha! Orpm, you were always a fool. Surely, you've heard me demolishing houses with the flick of my wrist. What makes you so sure that I won't do the same to you?" snarled Sypcp._

"_I know you well enough to know that you would never pass up a decent fight," I answered. "And don't call me Shirley," I added, trying to calm myself with a joke._

"_True, I would never pass up a decent fight, but my skills have improved greatly. You are a mere fly compared to me though, far from a decent fight." With that he flicked his wrist, and a great surge of magic came up and flung me out the window, hurtling me over the great mass of destruction Sypcp left in his wake. The immensity of the magic flung me into a near by forest where I hit a branch and lost consciousness._

_I don't know how long I was out, but when I woke Sypcp had already left, and he took the beauty of Vquitoz with him. All that was left was rubble, destruction, and death. Stones were on fire, bodies lying everywhere, where the steeple of the church and castle once stretched to the heavens were only larger piles of ruble. The once lovely and prosperous land of Vquitoz was now a desolate wasteland. I was the last of my kind; cursed to know Sypcp is the only other to know what beauty once thrived there. I then became like a ranger: living off the land, traveling aimlessly, protecting the innocent. During this time I had devoted my life into tracking down Sypcp, and found nothing. Just recently I have stumbled upon some information that has lead me to believe Sypcp is going to do the same to Hyrule. I underestimated him once, and I lost my home, I will not let this happen again._

_I went to the castle earlier today to warn the king of this danger but the guard didn't find it of a high enough priority to let me pass. I then came here to ask the Great Deku Tree for guidance._

"Now, that should have answered all your questions, Link. Now should you encounter him heed not his callings and run. For by now he would have surely found out, as I, that you are the great Hero of Time." Link about fell over in shock upon hearing these words.

"How, how did you know? Everyone else doesn't remember anything from my adventure," Link said, truly shocked.

"Oh…I could tell there was something about you that was special. The Deku Tree filled me in on everything I couldn't guess," said Orpm with a smile.

"What?! You can remember my adventure?" Link half shouted at half asked the fat little tree, who was about as tall as Link. "Why haven't you told everyone? They all think I'm crazy because I told them I traveled though time!"

"I didn't feel the need to worry the Kokiri children of events that now, thanks to you, won't happen," said the little tree calmly.

"At least they would be praising my name instead of thinking I'm a loony bin," replied Link.

"We both know that's not what you want, you're not the type to seek attention on a large scale," countered the Deku sprout. Orpm watched this transfer with keen interest; it wasn't every day you got to see the legendary Hero of Time and the Great Deku Tree have an argument. It was quite humorous. "Perhaps you should introduce Orpm to Saria, I can smell her mushroom soup from here."

"Oh, jeez! I forgot about supper!" exclaimed Link, jumping to his feet. "Common, follow me," shouted Link to Orpm as he ran down the trail. Orpm slowly got up and leisurely followed Link.

* * *

Will supper be cold? Will Saria be upset? What are Orpm's true intentions? And most importantly: will Link get enough food to eat? Find out in the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

After hearing Ormp's story Link rushes back to Saria's for supper...

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Chapter 3

"Hey! You better have not killed that one to," said Mido as he seen Link come running down the path. This time Link knocked Mido completely to the ground, "Ooof. Hey! That hurt!" shouted Mido as he hit the ground.

"He just forgot about supper, I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it," said Orpm as he walked up.

"Hey, who are you? And answer me this time and don't blow me off," said Mido.

"A friend," replied Orpm.

"Of Link's? A friend of Link's isn't a friend of mine," said Mido harshly.

"Saria is Link's friend, and you like her don't you?" inquired Orpm.

"She has a fairy though, Link doesn't," Mido said crossing his arms and sticking his tongue out at Orpm.

"Link isn't a Kokiri now is he?" asked Orpm. Mido about bit his tongue; this stranger had actually got the best of him. Seeing this debate was over Orpm hopped over the little platforms and walked over to Saria's house, leaving behind one completely dumbfounded Mido, who still hadn't put his tongue back in his mouth.

"He is coming over here. The guy I tailed, the guy Mido tried to stop, is coming to eat with us," Link was trying to explain to Saria. "So I have one question for you."

"What's that?" asked Saria.

"Did you fix enough soup?" asked Link getting a hungry look on his face. Saria rolled her eyes and shook her head. _Food, is that all he ever thinks about? _"Well?"

"Yes, I fixed enough food for you, me, and a bit more incase you were real hungry," said Saria.

"Oh, that's so kind of you," said Orpm with a smile as he walked in.

"Wow," said Saria in wonder. She had never left the forest, therefore never knowing how big normal people got. If a normal person wandered into the forest she was never one to go looking for them. She quickly regained her train of thought, "Oh, I'm sorry have a seat, and I'll pour the soup," she said motioning to the table. Orpm walked over to where Link had already taken a seat and sat down. He felt like a giant sitting at the tiny table and chair.

Saria made sure to put more soup in Orpm's bowl; he was so much bigger than them surely he ate more. She walked over to the table handed Link and Orpm their bowls and sat down with her own. Orpm completely forgot about the spoon, and picked up the bowl and slurped down the contents in a few gulps. Saria starred on in disbelief, how could someone eat that much that fast? She herself would surely burst if she tried. "Whoo-hoo! Way to go! You beat my record," cheered Link. Then there are people like Link who try to make it a game.

"I haven't had a decent meal in a while, thank you, Saria," Orpm said.

"How did you know my name?" she asked in wonder.

"The Great Deku Tree and Link told me. By the way, my name is Orpm."

"Would you like some more soup?" Saria asked Orpm.

"Yeah! That would be great, thanks Saria," said Link handing Saria his bowl. He had finished his off while Orpm was introducing himself.

"What? I was asking Orpm, Mr. Impolite," scoffed Saria, taking Link's bowl.

"Oh, no, I don't want to impose. I've already showed up to supper uninvited. I'm happy you even fed me," replied Orpm smiling. "Although, I'm going to have to find a place to sleep tonight," he said, face becoming serious.

"You can stay at my place. You can have my bed and I'll sleep on the floor," offered Link.

"Is it big enough?" asked Orpm.

"It's the same size as Saria's," said Link pointing to the bed against the wall.

"It's a little small," started Orpm, eyeing the tiny bed, "and I'd rather sleep on the floor anyways."

"I have extra blankets and a pillow you can use. Common I'll show you my house," said Link, jumping up and running out the door after finishing his second bowl of soup.

"Thank you again, Saria," said Orpm quickly following Link.

"Well, this is home sweet home," said Link walking into his house. Orpm walked in and surveyed his surroundings. It was a pigsty: clothes strung about everywhere, books scattered the table, and the sheets on the bed were in a heap. "Ignore the mess. I normally don't have company and I'm usually so busy with other things that I don't have time to clean," said Link eyeing the mess. He then proceeded to throw all the dirty clothes in one pile. "Sheets and a pillow are in the top right drawer," said Link pointing to the dresser along the wall.

Orpm went over to the dresser and opened the indicated drawer. "These?" he asked pulling out some sheets and a pillow.

"Yeah, those are fine," Link said looking up. "You can make a palate anywhere you fell comfortable at."

"Thanks," said Orpm picking out a relatively clean spot along the wall.

After they had settled in to their sleeping positions Link asked, "You said the war against Sypcp for Vquitoz happened before anyone now can remember, that must have been long ago."

"A really long time ago."

"And you were there?"

"I'm a lot older than I look, I can't even remember my actual age."

"Wow…"

"Hey, in the morning don't bother getting me up, a lot better alarm clocks than you have tried. I've traveled a long way and need sleep, I'll get up when I'm ready."

"Ok, I like to sleep in late too. See you in the morning."

"See you when I wake up." With that they both went to sleep.

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HES HOW OLD?!?! AND LINK IS PERFECTLY FINE LETTING A COMPLETE STRANGER SLEEP IN HIS HOUSE?!?! Yeah, and I'm the lunatic writing all of this.


End file.
